Short-Term Pain, Long-Term Gain? Arsenal 3-1 Manchester United Tactical Breakdown

Arsenal 3, Manchester United 1, it was a brilliant game and in today's video we're going to tactically break down the game and explain how the game shifted at various points, the momentum change from one side to the other, where Manchester United and Eric Ten Haag actually go from here with the arrivals of Sofian Amrabat, Rasmus Hoyland, but also why Arsenal are operating at what I would like to say at around 65% of their actual level right now. But let's start and I'm going to begin with the first half and it was a conservative first half, first 45 minutes for both sides, but for differing reasons. Arteta set up Arsenal to initially press in a man-to-man system with the wingers, Sakharov and Martinelli, inverting to allow Benoit and Oleksandr Zinchenko to press through onto their opposing men in an aggressive press. And at times they did do this successfully, ironically, for Manchester United's first goal, but this was only sporadic. Why was that? Well, Martinez Lindelof, Eriksen, but especially Andre Onana had a large part to say in this. There's not many people, not even goalkeepers, but players in world football quite like Onana who can beckon on a press. And when you have these tenacious shadow markers in Oerdegaard and Nketiah, the way Onana beckoned on the Arsenal press meant that as soon as Arsenal bit and triggered, left their block shape to go and press, Onana on the ball left their man-to-man shape. There became a free man and Onana either found them directly or with a deep midfielder dropping in, whether that was Casemiro or Eriksen, there was a nice combination to release the spare man. And this meant that Arsenal wingers couldn't invert reliably and this shifted them into a much more passive block because of this free man that was created by Onana in attack. And this meant that Oerdegaard was largely shadow marking Christian Eriksen, Havertz on Casemiro, Martinelli dropping much deeper, and this is why most of the build-up occurred on Manchester United's right-hand side. But this links to their continued issues in actually progressing play and although not an optimal approach from an Arteta point of view, Arsenal were largely happy to allow Manchester United to do this in the first half because overall it was possession certainly. Manchester United ended the first half with over 50% of it but it was possession without any control and it's one of the few times you'll actually hear me saying that. They disrupted certainly the expected flow of the game and made it more difficult for Arsenal but they didn't control really that Arsenal press or pose enough of a threat. I'm going to explain why now. In Eriksen Haag's sort of fluid 3-2 or 3-3 build-up structure that we've talked a lot about on this channel, it's a top-notch world-class structure with the rotations and the constant zones occupied by his players, whether he promotes a centre-back, inverts a full-back, a second-phase player drops deeper but it's the progression through the lines and this comes down to the profiles and players he has within that system. That's what has always hampered Manchester United building up from the back. Onana obviously becomes that plus one now and this allows Deleux and Wan-Bissaka, as it was, to push higher but there was nothing centrally through Arsenal's compact block and finding Rashford over the top can be great at times but with no Rasmus Hoyland outball to deal with sort of the clever pressing from Arsenal and that's a big part of what he will bring. Rashford really needs those sort of combinations either to find Bruno Fernandes in between the lines or a nine dropping a bit deeper to then unleash Marcus Rashford. Hoyland is the only direct ball-to-feet man in the forward line at Manchester United Football Club and of course Amrabat will help this central progression as well. He dominates that first and second phase and although he can't sort of turn fluidly out of tight areas, he uses his body really well to shield and then platform attacks so he's just as hard to dispossess. He switches and moves a sort of compact block that Arsenal were around and suits that central centre-back role, dropping in in United's sort of fluid build-up shapes and has that balance of progression and conservativeness that United don't have other than Onana and maybe Martinez across their whole squad. But let's now look at Arsenal's build-up and before moving on to why the second half was more controlled, let's look at the first half. United began the game in an aggressive man-to-man press as I think we expected. Again though, Fotenhagen was without his full-backs joining the press like sort of the other elite sides, if you will, do. But that wasn't as important here. Arsenal built in a 4-2 shape really and Havertz was forced to join Rice in the pivot at times and this sort of 4-2 shape with the left interior or the left winger drifting centrally into the pivot is something we've seen against Barcelona in pre-season with Leandro Trossa dropping in next to Thomas Partey. The difference here though is that it's Kai Havertz, as I'm going to get on to, and that meant most of the time as Ramsdale, you know, sometimes formed that nominal left centre-back role in possession that allowed Havertz to start slightly higher up and not always have that responsibility in the pivot with Declan Rice who largely dominated sort of the progression and took on the build-up phase for Arsenal, that mantle on his own, forming a 4-1 shape, of course allowing Kai Havertz to drift higher. And the structure that Arteta has created is so good that at times sort of Havertz having to drop deeper and play, although it wasn't planned, as deep as we've seen him in an Arsenal shape, it didn't matter as much. But of course, I'll go back to the word optimal. This wasn't optimal and Arsenal didn't exert the control that they wanted on the game and in tandem with United's very tentative but competent holding onto the ball in their own first phase, Zinchenko couldn't reliably invert from left-back into midfield in the first half at all. And it's here where Arsenal really need that second phase presence to alleviate that responsibility. And of course, as we know, as I've covered at length on this channel, if you want to know what type of a player Kai Havertz is, what he can do, what he can't do, you just have to watch my videos. We know Havertz can't do that. And like I said, this is the deepest he's ever played in an Arsenal shirt. But this wasn't the plan, as we saw in the second half where Zinchenko could invert, as I'm going to get onto in just a little bit. And that second phase presence, most importantly, would make playing out the back much, much easier. The rotations would become much more fluid, especially when connections and relationships have cohered, and mix this with sort of the technical advancement of Arsenal in these areas, the outlets that they have up front, their relentless runners. This is why I'm sort of saying Arsenal are performing at around 65% of their level. They need that extra ball magnet to release the dependency of Declan Rice or Zinchenko than in higher areas when he can invert. And this was why a change was on the cards of Jorginho coming in in that number six and Rice in the left-hand side in number eight. But I think fitness in these big space games that you often play in transitional sides like Manchester United who can break so forcibly, it might be an indicator of Jorginho's fitness not being totally trusted now and only being able to be that controller at the end of games. I'm not saying that's what's happened, but that certainly could be something to look out for now when we consider Arsenal and their depth in midfield, what it actually is. Unfortunately now we can't do our closest representation of what the party Xhaka dynamic would have been last season because that would be party in Declan Rice and of course Thomas Partey looks to be out for a minimum of six to eight weeks. But like I said, the structure is very good as it always has been under Arteta. We always have five attacking in the last line regardless. For example, for Arsenal's first goal, that instant reply to Rashford's, Zinchenko recognised this time that he drifted higher in the attack as a wide fifth man, allowing Martinelli to move inside into that inside left channel and that was where the goal came. And I think the late runs into the box from Havertz or here Martin Urdegaard are going to characterise that double shadow striker role or whichever interior is the more advanced one in this Arsenal side. The left hand side dynamics were instantly better unsurprisingly with Zinchenko coming back into the team. That natural left footedness facilitates progression of the ball so much easier. He's that abundant passer to connect the phases and I think his appreciation of space makes us look so much more fluid and dangerous just as a flaw. But let's move into the second half now where it was a tight first half, a cagey affair if you want, but Arsenal's tactical and qualitative ascendancy I think took over more and this was maybe quite inevitable. United were still in the game but the probabilities ultimately had shifted and that's why Arsenal ran out 3-1 winners in the end. So let's talk about that now. Like last year at the Emirates and Arsenal's 3-2 win over Manchester United, it was a very tight first half. United of course at their best early on in the game, aggressive in their press where their transitional threats are also fresh, but then as that overload, Arsenal's overload in their build-up shows because United under Ten Hag only press mainly with four attackers up front and also Arsenal's superior depth that really turns the screw for Arsenal in the second halves and in a way it forces them to grow into confidence which is something they're lacking at the moment. And inevitably I think the quality did come through for Arsenal. Synchenko could suddenly invert more, pushing Havertz into his intended place in between the lines straight away and that was of course where the penalty came from because United, although they tried, they found it difficult to get onto the ball and with that overload that Arsenal had as well in the last line whether it was a five against four in United's 4-2-3-1 compact low block or in the final sort of 15-20 minutes in that six versus five shape, that sustained possession that Arsenal's superiority in that sense can give them means they can sustain pressure through rice whether that's switching of passes which is something we haven't had at the base of our midfield really under Arteta as of yet or playing passes against the momentum of the block which is a really underrated part of breaking down a system. And the structure just proved to be slightly too good for United in the end whether it was a 3-1-6 for Arsenal with Tomi Asu or Synchenko promoting into that half space or a 2-2-6 with White overlapping on the outside. I think this level of pressure is difficult for anyone to keep out and then compound that with the injuries that United have with Evans forced on with Maguire as a centre-back pairing them in their mini crisis it was always going to be difficult and yeah the technical security for Arsenal of course they have more chance and although Rasmus Hoyland made Arsenal think two ways when he came on although he did well I think it's been underrated how well Gabriel did in the battle to win quite a few of his duels against him as well and dealing with this threat is a necessity if you can sustain pressure. Of course United with these outlets looking now to attack very quickly on the break this means the ball is turned over very quickly Arsenal can sustain pressure when they lose it the structure is so good all the key zones are occupied so they can counter press efficiently. So although not dominant for Arsenal because it definitely definitely wasn't dominant as United disrupted their initial press Synchenko wasn't always able to invert reliably it was a definitely deserved win in my opinion for Arsenal especially when we talk about sort of the chances the Havertz and Saka chances that they missed of course you invite then the pressure from Manchester United a team that have been so good on the transition with players of abundant quality in sort of those killer moments and then when you look at the territorial dominance the field tilt Arsenal's 42 touches to 19 in the opposition's box that 168 final third passes to just 47 for Manchester United this shows with that second phase presence that connector it could have been much more comfortable but because Arsenal didn't have that it was made harder I mean Opta had Arsenal at 1.8 expected goals before that late onslaught in added time so I think as whole as I would sum up Arsenal they do have that inevitability of scoring now within them where you watch them and there's that uncontrollable force that the ball's going to hit the back of the net at some point they certainly have that but what they don't have in comparison to Manchester City is that same sort of sinking feeling that you can transmit to the opposition opposition side that sinking feeling that they cannot score and cannot break you down there's still those moments as Garnaccio almost proved against Arsenal that we need to Arsenal as a side need to fix there was also some nice cameos again from Fabio Vieira and Reece Nelson Tommy Asu as well and I want to do some individual player analysis like this and like has been requested from some of you guys so I'm going to have some of those coming up but I'm going to move on to one of the final parts of the video now and that's why Arsenal in my opinion are operating and this is quite a specific number at about 65 percent of the level they are capable of capable of within them so why is that and lots of this come off the back of my discussions previously prior on the channel Arsenal in a way mixing between two approaches where they're all it's all trying to go through rice and tightening that more slower methodical conservative use of the football and this goes against the setup the actual players and the setup used in the first three games if you will not as much the Manchester United game but the first three games practiced for those big space UCL ties those transitional affairs also playing at times with two shadow strikers potentially to help sort of the connections on the pitch cohere that are taking more time and this will be harder and is made harder when injuries are afoot and there hasn't there's a hesitancy to use a proper second phase player as a result of these aforementioned reasons Zinchenko and Jesus two fundamental players are still chasing 90 minute fitness I mean you saw when Jesus comes on I've always said I don't feel we need to purchase any backup in the transfer window because Jesus is as he can be as good as any winger on the on the planet he can do that role across the front line every single position as well as anyone and you saw as soon as he comes on how dangerous he is from the right side I don't have to go into it in more detail just from a tactical point of view it was a nice move to see him move out move about and be as fluid as we know he can be because Dallo was lined up on that left hand side not just because Manchester United have a want at the moment of left backs but his right-footedness compliments in terms of Manchester United's favour Saka's left-footedness so Jesus's own right foot dominance nicely counteracted that but of course Gabby is so fluid either side he can create overloads and that chance creation is sort of magnetic to his qualities on the football pitch but most importantly of why Arsenal are at 65 percent is that the average age of the team as represents the whole squad the average age the starting 11 and the sorry the 18 yesterday was 24.4 years old and the comments thank you you keep reminding me about this we need we can never ever forget or ignore what such a young team is on the brink of being capable of doing so of course emotion can come into it confidence can take hits because we do need more arrogance but also that comes from evidence on pitch that comes from proof of having a well drilled oiled machine like Pep Guardiola's Manchester City so these facets are inevitable and also what makes Arsenal Arsenal and the question is can Arsenal stay with the pace of until these issues are sorted maybe sort of try and get to January the international break has probably come at a good time now for Arsenal and then hopefully we can see like I've said allow us not to click and see a more fully functioning Arsenal because at the moment not just for things I've explicated in this video but previous videos we are just about second fiddle to Manchester City and hoping as I've said that click in the later season will make us go bang because it will come and even when we're below par in these first four games the underlying numbers are so rooted heavily in our favour each time but that's enough for us now I just want to quickly finish on Manchester United but first I want to talk about a couple of things for them that we should not take for granted in their improvement because when Tanha came into Manchester United it wasn't a settled environment and he needs to show that he's good dealing with these intangible aspects that come with such a big club we're not we're talking about a cultural overhaul and I know that sort of phrase if you want gets chucked about a long time but it's it separates sort of elite managers from elite coaches if that makes sense and it's that control of every sort of fundament and facet of the whole club and this isn't just off the back of Jadon Ten Hag probably still needs to let's be honest he still needs to get hold of that at Manchester United I think on the pitch their box defending certainly still needs work but that's for those sort of those issues are for another video of course Amarabad and Hoyland will give them more control Hoyland acting as that outball for man-to-man presses that have been causing them issues even in a behind closed doors game against Vincent Company's Burnley where they lost Burnley again another side man-man press so I think let's judge Manchester United when they have a full squad because it is a mini crisis that they're in at the moment in terms of injuries availability and depth but it will be on Eric Ten Hag to get it right when the time comes but there's lots of moving parts for them there's also moving parts for Arsenal and for other teams that will become clearer as the season goes by so there's still a lot to talk about a lot to decide I've got a lot of things on my mind that I want to discuss and deliberate with you guys as always get in the comments I'll be down there and discussing with you whatever you think whatever even if it's not about the Arsenal Manchester United game get in the comments let me know what you think about anything I'll get chatting with you but that's all from me I only ask at the end of the video to like for you to like comment subscribe share whatever because hopefully that means you found it really informative but that is all from me I'll see you in the next one thank you very much for watching bye bye for now